Sri Lanka enters world of marinas

As tourist arrivals continue to increase steadily, Sri Lanka is looking to start much needed marinas sought after by high net-worth tourists for marine leisure action.

A marina is a mini port for anchoring yachts and boats and is usually equipped with various boat related services. Marinas are built adjoining an already existing port/harbour or they could be located on their own.

"The Industry and Commerce Ministry is willing to support marina development in Sri Lanka through the very institutional mechanism of the Ministry. The Ministry, with the industry participation, has already set up an advisory committee on boat building sector and has obtained allocation from treasury to conduct a feasibility study on setting up a dedicated boat park" said Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.

Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the launch event "Boat Show Sri Lanka 2011", and the official logo of `Boat Show', on December 7, at Ceylon Continental, Colombo. According to the organisers of this event (which is to be held from May 18-20, 2012 at BMICH, Colombo), the show is South Asia's most focused and largest international boat exhibition. On this occasion, Minister Bathiudeen also unveiled the official logo of the Boat Show 2012. Boat building in Sri Lanka is an emerging export sector that continues to expand due to the wide variety of products and services it offers to international markets. It should be noted that the first ever "Boat Show Sri Lanka" was held in 2008. The export value of boats manufactured in Sri Lanka doubled in 2009 to US $ 58 million from $ 22 million in 2008.

In 2010 the value of boat exports was US $ 64 million and up to August 2011 it has almost doubled reaching US $ 124 million.